Bandages
by lunachand
Summary: A series of one-shots featuring Zoro's perspective during his interactions with Tashigi. (Anime-centric)
1. Bandages

_Punk Hazard_

 _Post Fishman Island Arc_

"Oi, oi!" Zoro knelt beside the marine captain, who was face down in the snow.

He turned her over to assess the damage. The blood from her shoulder seeped into the snow. She was still awake, but her chest was heaving. She reached into a pocket inside her jacket between gasps and retrieved a small white box. Within moments, she was out cold. Zoro grabbed her arm and pressed two fingers against her wrist. After several seconds he allowed himself to exhale.

He pried the box from her fingers and noticed a small red cross on it. "Well, at least she comes prepared."

There was a long strip of gauze inside the box. Zoro was no doctor, but he'd been injured often enough to have a general idea of what he should do. The first would be to stop the bleeding. He sighed. The damage was underneath her coat, but he could not will himself to unbutton it. He couldn't just take a woman's clothes off while she was unconscious. Call him old-fashioned.

So instead, he began winding the bandage around her shoulder outside of the sleeve. He did so without thinking; once the cloth was completely unraveled he paused.

'What the hell am I doing this for, anyway?'

He stood up and turned towards the Biscuit Room's exit, but the exit was gone. He was sure it was there a moment ago. Scratching the back of his head, he felt a prickling on the back of his neck. He sniffed the air and recognized the scent immediately. The poison was in the room.

Cursing, he regarded the two women on the floor. He doubted he could save them both. He was not even sure if he wanted to. Sliding one arm under Tashigi's back, he gingerly rested her stomach against his shoulder and stood up. He kept that arm around her waist to secure her. This way, he had easy access to his swords, and he would not risk moving her shoulder too much.

He also would not have to look at her face.

* * *

As Zoro ran, clouds of purple smoke kept cutting them off. Tashigi yelled at him to turn back and he complied, telling her to shut up after each command. Eventually they reached into a narrow tunnel-like hallway with nowhere to go but forward. He felt Tashigi relax against his back. The two were quiet for a moment until she spoke.

"You and Black Leg Sanji. Why are you helping the navy?"

"You really expected me to just leave you there?" He replied. "And that pervert-cook would chase any woman, navy or not."

"But… you don't owe us anything, and we'd still try to capture you when this whole thing is over. Wouldn't it have been easier for you to just leave me?" She propped herself up a bit.

"Talk about ungrateful." He muttered. But she had a point. It was a question he had been struggling with a bit himself, ever since they encountered Trafalgar Law.

" _How dare you!" Zoro heard a woman screaming and turned in time to see Law jab a sword into the air. The blue-haired marine stopped mid-run and collapsed onto the floor._

 _She seemed to fall in slow-motion, and Zoro swallowed hard. Even though he sensed that she was still alive, his brows furrowed deeper._

" _What did that guy just do?"_

The tunnel opened up, and he could see a large crowd of people on the other side. Tashigi recognized them immediately.

"P-Please put me down! This is embarrassing!" She began stuttering once the navy came into view.

"That's annoying. Just stay where you are."

"Hey! Who the hell said you could carry Tashigi-chan on your shoulder?" Zoro ignored Sanji's complaining. The G-5 marines were directly behind, still loyal to the man in the suit. The marines almost seemed like pirates themselves. Handing Tashigi over to the navy right then would have been easy, but for some reason, Zoro didn't want to.

"Zoro! Turn back! Turn back!" Nami called.

Even after he had finally caught up with everyone, Nami was still telling him that he was going the wrong way. Why was everyone so bad at giving directions? Zoro skidded to a halt in front of Sanji and made a U-turn.

"I think he was growling at us…" Tashigi remarked as Zoro once again attempted to reach the R building. He did not reply, but he smirked. Irritating that damn cook was always satisfying. That almost made his decision to keep her worth it.

As he ran, Nami shouted before he could even think of changing directions. Tashigi remained quiet and he could feel her chest against his back. Perhaps she felt she could rest now that someone else was telling him what to do. Fatigue started to catch up with him too. Zoro could not wait to be out of this place.

Once they reached the R room, Zoro flipped Tashigi over and she landed in his arms with an "oof." He could feel her glare burning against his cheek but chose to face the oncoming crowd instead. She said nothing when he handed her over to a marine, but he was sure her face was bright red.

* * *

The party was underway, despite the fact that Luffy knew someone dangerous was coming. In all of the confusion, one could not distinguish pirate from marine. Drinks and food were served, and even Zoro was having a good laugh with some G-5 members. Some of the men sitting near Zoro got up for a bowl of Sanji's stew. Once they left, he noticed Tashigi fidgeting in the corner of his eye.

She took a huge gulp from her mug before approaching him. Although he looked up at her from his seat, she closed her eyes before she spoke.

"Thank you for earlier."

"For what, exactly?" He grinned. She scowled at him and clenched her fists.

"For saving me." She unclenched, now that the words were finally in the air. "I might have died if you didn't bring me back to my crew." She glanced around quickly, as if searching for eavesdroppers. He almost laughed. Every time he told himself that Tashigi was not Kuina, she did something that reminded him of her. Kuina's pride would have held her back too.

"Thanking Black Leg was much easier than this." Tashigi muttered to herself. She brought him back from his musing.

"Maybe next time you'll actually put up a decent fight on your own."

She snapped her head back in his direction. "You know, you probably would have died trying to get out of the Biscuit Room if I didn't tell you where to go! How can a grown man get lost so easily?" Her shouts were inches away from his face.

"Shut up! I would have figured it out without your damn nagging!" He retorted, unflinching.

Rubbing her temples with one hand, she stood up straight and began to turn. "Forget it. I'm going to check on the children." She took one step forward, but stopped when she saw his hand on her forearm. Tashigi searched his face before noticing his raised mug. Understanding the gesture, she clinked her cup against his.

"You're welcome." He said quietly.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Since Tashigi almost always uses formal speech, even when talking to Zoro or the G-5, I got the impression that she was relatively polite...


	2. Stairs

**Author's Note** : Each chapter is its own memory; this chapter has little to do with the previous one.

* * *

 _Loguetown_

 _Post Arlong Park Arc_

The woman walked through Loguetown's cobblestone streets with a bundle in her arms wrapped in paper. Like a sack of groceries. He followed her to the naval outpost.

'So the Kuina-lookalike works for the marines.' Zoro thought to himself.

Common sense was telling him to ditch the girl. He was a pirate now, after all. True, he'd messed up her glasses and needed to pay her back, but was it worth marching straight into enemy territory? His feet continued moving forward and through the front doors.

Curiosity, like most emotions, far outweighed his sense of fear. Besides, he'd been lucky so far. Despite her profession, it seemed that she had no idea who he was.

As they climbed a flight of stairs inside the building, she stumbled. This was starting to become a pattern. He'd seen her trip on nothing earlier that same day. One of her legs slipped backwards. She cried out. The bundle in her arms pressed against her chest.

There was a sword in there.

He reached out and pressed a hand against her back, steadying her. Her burden clattered onto the floor. "Thanks." She said, turning to face him.

"You should be more careful." He said, looking aside. "Accidents happen in the stupidest ways." To anyone. Zoro couldn't change the past. But there was no way he'd let it happen again right in front of him. He climbed up and stood on the same stair as her. His expression must have darkened or something, because the woman was scrutinizing him.

She nodded gravely, "I see. Is that what happened to your wife?"

"Wha-?" His arm flew back to his side.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I had said I wouldn't ask any more questions about your financial situation." She picked up her bundle, continued up the stairs and walked towards a doorway with a smile, "Come this way. I'll talk to them about letting you work here for as long as you need."


End file.
